The recent slump by the New England Patriots was somewhat predictable. After three impressive wins, the Pats distained the run and kept throwing the football.

The Rams turned around their horrible fortunes last week by running Marshall Faulk 26 times for 158 yards in a more simplified offense. The result was an upset over the Raiders, bringing some life into what had been a depressing season.

	Tom Brady and the Patriots aren't smiling quite as much after three straight losses.

While the NFL is enjoying unprecedented scoring success, the formula for offensive success hasn't changed this year. It's balance. Teams better find a balance between the number of running plays and passing games or defenses will gradually catch up to them.

"By the end of the season, teams will swing back to the offenses being run by Miami and Denver," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. "Marty Schottenheimer has it working in San Diego. You'll see teams going to the equation that is worked so well by Norv Turner in Miami and Mike Shanahan in Denver. You have a good running game. You have big receivers who can make some downfield plays."

The beauty of last Sunday night's Miami-Denver game was that it was football at its finest. There was good hitting, good action, big plays, high drama. For weeks, each team had worked the balance between run and pass so they could get into this slugfest using either tactic.

That's what troubled me about the start of the season. There just seemed to be too much of an emphasis on passing. While passing offenses are fun to watch, they tease you. They just don't last over a 16-game season. Weather changes make it tougher for quarterbacks to throw the ball in colder, rainy days. On those sunny days, finesse works, but you better have the grit and power of the running game to get through the November and December games.

"The Run-and-Shoot went the way of the dinosaurs," Billick said. "In the old Run-and-Shoot, you were able to throw to the 20, but it's hard to sustain that type of offense. In this league, it is tough to sustain long drives. There are so third downs that a team has to convert in a long drive. That's tough. I believe that you have to have a certain degree of explosiveness in your offense. How many 10-to-12 play drives can you sustain?"

The rage this year has been the Spread Offense. The concept was simple. Spread receivers across the field. Quarterbacks work out of mostly three- and five-step drops. For three weeks, Tom Brady did it and the Patriots' offense looked unstoppable. Brady averaged 43 passes a game.

In some ways, the Brady effect spread. The quick throws made it tough for defensive linemen to sack the quarterback. Sacks are down 10 percent, the lowest level since 1996. Defensive ends were becoming as frustrated not getting to the quarterback this year as defensive tackles were last year when quarterbacks did more rollouts.

Scoring was up, so all seemed well. But, as usually happens in the NFL, reality sets in. The Patriots problem started in San Diego. Middle linebacker Junior Seau blitzed or faked blitzes from behind the defensive tackles. As the game progressed, Brady, who was too quick to throw the ball to get sacked, patted the ball as he looked downfield and saw his first receiving option covered.

The true problem came on the crucial running plays. The Patriots couldn't convert those short-yardage runs. Part of the reason was that so much time was spent on pass-blocking that it was hard to turn on the switch and convert those power runs into positive plays.

Following the bye week, watch for the Patriots to mix in more runs and get better balance. Bill Belichick and his offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, are too smart not to understand the keys to success in this league.

"You prefer to have balance in your offense," Billick said. "Balance in the modern day NFL is 60-40 pass. It's a rarity to have 50-50. It's when you go 80-to-20 pass is when you get into different concerns. Your problems become more noticeable in the red zone. It's when you have to line up and get a run. You're screwed if you rely too much on the running game and can't get those runs."

	“	By the end of the season, teams will swing back to the offenses being run by Miami and Denver. Marty Schottenheimer has it working in San Diego. You'll see teams going to the equation that is work so well by Norv Turner in Miami and Mike Shanahan in Denver. You have a good running game. You have big receivers who can make some downfield plays. ”
		— Brian Billick, Ravens coach

Ten teams don't conform to the 60-40 passing formula. Three of those teams are the top three offenses in the NFL -- Oakland (34 percent run), Buffalo (36.7) and Philadelphia (37.5). The Patriots rank seventh in the league and run the ball 33.9 percent of the team, second lowest in the league. The Rams run it 34.6 percent of the time. The Redskins are 36.3. The Browns inability to run the ball successfully has turned them into a 33.5 percent running team. The final three teams -- the Jets (34.6), Bengals (35.9) and Lions (36.7) -- have trailed so much this season that it's hard to see the true personality of their offense.

More than any year in recent memory, injuries are playing such a role on teams week to week. Expansion and the salary cap make it impossible for teams to stockpile depth in case of injuries. In many ways, offensive coordinators need to play for those disastrous days when the starting quarterback or one or two of the top receivers are hurt.

That's where the Dolphins are prepared. Jay Fiedler is out for anywhere between a month and eight weeks, but the Dolphins may be able to get by because they have a balanced offense. In many ways, Turner, who runs the system he taught to Mike Martz in St. Louis, is a proponent of balance. He's more Joe Gibbs than Don Coryell. The Dolphins are off to a 5-1 start and have run the ball 51.6 percent of the time.

This week, they play the Bills, who have become competitive because of the trade for Drew Bledsoe. Turner plans to keep the same offensive plays now that Ray Lucas is the quarterback because there is great balance. The Dolphins may be down to their backup receivers -- James McKnight and Dedric Ward -- but Lucas has a chance to succeed because the offensive line is as good blocking on the run as it is on the pass.

"Ultimately, you have to scheme to the talent you have on offense," Billick said. "If you have the assets to go more one-sided in your play-calling, then that's what you have to do. Early on, the Patriots passed the ball and looked great. But to live and die by it is tough. You've got to be able to run the ball at some point."

The Rams showed last week against the Raiders that they may be pass-happy, but they can win when they hand off to Marshall Faulk. Expect Antowain Smith to get more action on the ground after the bye week.

Certainly, there will be holdouts. Even though Steve Spurrier juggles receivers and quarterbacks, he lives and dies by the pass even though Stephen Davis is the perfect back for a balanced offense. The Browns may not have enough of a running offense this year to provide Tim Couch with proper balance. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles adjust because their offense is so dependent on Donovan McNabb that they may not survive his loss because of injury.

Balance may not be sexy. It's reality. Throwing pretty pass after pretty pass looks great on television, but the running game is the great equalizer.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.